Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of State
Signed December 28, 2001·George W. Bush·67 FR 1599
Source
Everything on this page is drawn from the Federal Register, the official daily journal of the United States government. Where this page and the source disagree, the source governs.
Plain-language summary
Establishes an order of succession for officials who would act as Secretary of State if the Secretary dies, resigns, or otherwise cannot perform the job's duties. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, it lists a sequence beginning with the Deputy Secretary of State, followed by the Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources, designated Under Secretaries, other Under Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries, the Counterterrorism Coordinator, the Director General of the Foreign Service, the Legal Adviser, United Nations representatives, specified ambassadors including those to the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Japan, and India, ambassadors at large, the Counselor, Special Representatives of the President, and remaining Chiefs of Mission. It bars anyone not confirmed by the Senate, or already serving in an acting capacity, from acting as Secretary under this order, preserves the President's discretion to depart from the list within legal limits, and treats successor offices as equivalent to those named. It revokes Executive Order 12343 of January 27, 1982.
Not written or reviewed by a person. Read the full order below for anything you intend to rely on.
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Legal standing
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Claimed authority
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., it is hereby ordered
Quoted from the order as written. Many orders cite nothing more specific than “the Constitution and the laws”; this reproduces what the order claims, not an assessment of whether it holds.
Disposition
Revokes: EO 12343, January 27, 1982; Amended by: EO 13261, March 19, 2002
Compiled after the fact by the National Archives, so recent orders often have none yet. An empty disposition means no record, not no activity.
The order, in full
Executive Order 13251 of December 28, 2001
Providing an Order of Succession Within the
Department of State
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and laws of the United States of America,
including the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5
U.S.C. 3345 et seq., it is hereby ordered that:
Section 1. Subject to the provisions of section 3 of
this order, the officers named in section 2, in the
order listed, shall act as, and perform the duties of,
the office of Secretary of State (Secretary) during any
period in which the Secretary has died, resigned, or
otherwise become unable to perform the functions and
duties of the office of Secretary.
Sec. 2. Order of Succession.
(a) Deputy Secretary of State;
(b) Deputy Secretary of State for Management and
Resources;
(c) Under Secretary of State designated for
political affairs pursuant to section 2651a(b) of title
22, United States Code;
(d) Under Secretary of State designated for
management affairs pursuant to section 2651a(b) of
title 22, United States Code;
(e) The remaining Under Secretaries of State, in
the order in which they shall have taken the oath of
office as such;
(f) Assistant Secretaries of State designated for
regional bureaus pursuant to section 2651a(c) of title
22, United States Code, in the order in which they
shall have taken the oath of office as such;
(g) The following officers, in the order in which
they shall have taken the oath of office as such:
(1) Remaining Assistant Secretaries of State;
(2) Coordinator for Counterterrorism;
(3) Director General of the Foreign Service; and
(4) Legal Adviser;
(h) United States Representative to the United
Nations (New York);
(i) Deputy United States Representative to the
United Nations (New York);
(j) The following other United States
Representatives to the United Nations (New York), in
the order in which they shall have taken the oath of
office as such:
(1) United States Representative to the United Nations for United Nations
Management and Reform;
(2) United States Representative to the United Nations on the Economic
and Social Council of the United Nations; and
(3) Alternate United States Representative to the United Nations for
Special Political Affairs in the United Nations;
(k) The following Chiefs of Mission, in the order
listed:
(1) United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom;
(2) United States Ambassador to Canada;
(3) United States Ambassador to Australia;
(4) United States Ambassador to Mexico;
(5) United States Ambassador to Japan; and
(6) United States Ambassador to India;
(l) The following officers, in the order in which
they shall have taken the oath of office as such:
(1) United States Ambassadors at Large;
(2) Counselor; and
(3) Special Representatives of the President; and
(m) The remaining Chiefs of Mission, in the order
in which they shall have taken the oath of office as
such.
Sec. 3. Exceptions.
(a) No individual who has not been appointed by the
President by and with the consent of the Senate shall
act as Secretary pursuant to this order.
(b) No individual who is serving in an office
listed in section 2(a)-(m) in an acting capacity shall
act as Secretary pursuant to this order.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this order,
the President retains discretion, to the extent
permitted by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998,
5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., to depart from this order in
designating an acting Secretary.
(d) A successor office, intended to be the
equivalent of an office identified in section 2 of this
order, shall be deemed to be the position identified in
section 2 for purposes of this order.
Sec. 4. Executive Order 12343 of January 27, 1982, is
hereby revoked.
(Presidential Sig.)B
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 28, 2001.Reproduced from the Federal Register plain-text record, signed December 28, 2001. Typesetting artifacts are removed; no wording is changed.